


The Guide Job

by Zephiera



Series: Sentinel Eliot [2]
Category: Leverage, The Sentinel
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 20:13:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7283128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zephiera/pseuds/Zephiera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just as Blair's alter ego "Jake" is settling in with the Leverage team and his new Sentinel, Hardison brings them a case that will take him back to Cascade to face off against an old enemy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Picks up shortly after the end of "The Sentinel Job". Will hopefully be updated at least once a week.
> 
> Usual disclaimers apply

“So, this one’s a bit odd,” Hardison said as he brought the next picture up on the screen, “but it’s definitely our type of gig – and we’ve certainly gone further afield than this.”

“Okay,” Nate agreed calmly, one hand on Sophie’s knee as she perched on the arm of his chair, a hand on his shoulder. “Run it down.”

“Right. The victims are all people who’ve demonstrated certain traits – high intelligence; significant love of ‘social’ learning, usually evidenced by extended academic careers in fields like anthropology, archeology, sociology, psychology, etc.; extroverted; high ‘empathy’; often cross-fielding into careers like medicine, social work, or law enforcement.” 

“Wow, Jake, they sound like you,” Sophie commented, flashing him a grin.

After a blink, Hardison continued. “In each case, they, or their families for the ones who are still minors, were approached by someone who claimed to be recruiting for a special, classified, think-tank project. The ones who signed on voluntarily disappeared off the face of the earth, no contact with anyone almost from the day they ‘started’. The ones who declined disappeared as well, usually within a week, with no trace of what happened to them.”

“And the police?” Nate asked.

“Wouldn’t touch the ones that signed on voluntarily, and the others were all adults so with no sign of foul play and no other evidence….” 

“They wrote them off,” Parker finished softly. 

“Yeah. So, as it turns out, a former client happened to be in the right place to overhear one of the families talking about options and they directed them towards one of our contact sites.” He clicked the remote to switch the screen. “Caroline and Marcus Trevellik have a 16-year-old son, Jason. He’d been accepted to college for this coming semester, but jumped at the offer to join this mystery project instead after being assured it would count toward his degree.” The screen switched to show a serious looking young man, then switched again to show a building. “This is our target, the only physical address I could find for this mystery group.”

Before Hardison could continue, Jake stood slowly. “Alec, where exactly is this?”

“Jake?’

Jake ignored Sophie and waited for Hardison to answer. 

“Outskirts of some town in Washington state, Cascade.” 

“Of course it is….” Jake muttered, sinking back down into his seat and dropping his head in his hands.

“Jake, sweetheart, isn’t that…?”

“Yeah, Soph,” he sighed, “that’s where I was living when you called me.” 

“Is that going to be a problem?” Nate asked calmly.

Jake took a deep breath, and finally looked back up. “Go on with the briefing Hardison,” he said without giving Nate a direct answer.

“O…kay. So, moving on…. Based on the information the Trevanniks gave me, I was also able to track the recruiter, who still seems to be in the Cascade area.” He switched the screen again, throwing up a picture of a handsome dark-haired man. 

“Son of a ….” 

“You know him?” Eliot looked at his Guide, who was on his feet again, fists clenched, glaring at the screen.

“That’s Lee Brackett,” Jake snarled. “Former CIA slimeball who tried to blackmail me and my former ... partner ... into helping him steal a stealth plane. He’s supposed to be in jail, damn it.” Suddenly he paled. “Oh, oh god, I know what he’s doing…. Soph said it. The victims, each and every one of them, they could be me… He’s hunting for Guides. The son of a bitch is hunting potential Guides.”

“Then we shut him down,” Eliot growled.


	2. Chapter 2

“Right.” Nate clapped his hands as he stood. “Okay, then I’ll repeat my question… Jake, is going back to Cascade going to present a problem for you?” 

Jake sighed. “Probably, but I’ll deal. I’m more concerned about it being a problem for the rest of you. My friends back there, well, most of them are cops. Good ones. To be honest, our best bet is probably to bring them in – I don’t think we’ll be able to pull it off without them.”

“I thought the police blew this off?” Parker asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Hardison?”

“Our actual clients are the only family from Cascade, and since their son went in voluntarily and it’s only been a couple months….”

“There’s no real crime yet for anyone to investigate.” Jake concluded. “And it most likely would have started with one of the other departments anyway. My guys are Major Crimes.”

“Of course they are,” Hardison said, shaking his head. 

“So how likely is it that we could operate without you getting noticed?” Nate asked.

“Zero percent,” Jake said flatly. “Between Rainier and the Major Crimes crew, sooner or later I’ll get made. The best thing is to go in upfront, bring MC in from the beginning. Trust me, once they hear Brackett’s involved, they won’t look too closely at the people I’m working with” _I hope._ He paused for a breath, then continued. “Hardison, you and Eliot should use your FBI identities. Since we’re not coming in to take over an existing case, MC shouldn’t have a problem working with Feds. That will make the rest of it easier.”

“Okay.” Nate nodded. “You know the territory so I’m willing to let you take point here, but if this guy knows you…?”

“That’s how we’re going to get him,” Jake replied grimly. He shot Eliot an apologetic look. “I’m the bait.” Ignoring Eliot’s ‘Over my dead body’, he continued. “I’m willing to bet my share of the next three jobs that if Brackett thinks he can bring me in, he’ll take whatever risks necessary to do it.” 

Eliot started to protest again, then caught himself. As much as his Sentinel instincts were screaming to protect his Guide, he knew he had to respect Jake’s right to make this call. “Fine,” he finally growled while the others were still considering, “how do we pull this off?”

Jake flashed his Sentinel a grateful smile. “If Brackett’s willing to operate this close to Cascade, it’s a safe bet that he’s already determined that I’m not working with my former … partner anymore. So he probably figures he’s safe. After all, Cascade’s the last place anyone would expect him to be after what happened last time. And he probably has some sort of surveillance on my friends, so I can’t approach them directly.” He paused to think for a moment. “Right, so Hardison and Eliot go in first. You’ll be our link to my friends, but you’ll have to be careful about what you say and where you say it. Nate, Sophie, you’re parents checking out Rainier with your daughter. Parker, I know you can play 18 with no problem, so that’s what we’ll go with. Hardison will make sure your background flags the same type of profile as the other victims. You’ll be a transfer student looking to get your PhD in Anthropology from the best school on the West Coast.” He stopped to think for a moment, but continued before anyone else could say anything. “Actually, on second thought, Eliot it might be better if you go in under the radar. Do you think your buddy Vance would want to get involved? It might be a good idea to have some backup if Brackett’s still got any spook ties.”

“I’ll tag him. And you?” Eliot growled, already unhappy at the idea that he’d have to let Jake at least appear vulnerable for this to work.

Jake sighed. “That’s the easy part. Before the … incident with Alex Barnes I was a teaching fellow at Rainier working on my PhD. And I’m technically still on sabbatical. They weren’t about to argue considering I was attacked on campus in broad daylight and campus security was nowhere to be found.” He took a breath, fighting down the emotions that still swamped him every time he thought of the Alex fiasco. “As far as Brackett will be able to tell, I’m just going back to wrap up that part of my life. He’ll no doubt already know that I’m estranged from … my former partner and friends in MC, so he’ll hopefully figure I’m vulnerable. With any luck, he’ll presume that the separation is still acrimonious and try to outright recruit me. If not, odds are good he’ll just try to grab me. But either way, it’s a safe bet that he’s not going to ignore my return.” 

“Okay then people,” Nate concluded, “we have a plan. Let’s do this.”


End file.
